On August 5, Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung and Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Hynix, convened an emergency meeting of company executives to discuss Japan's response to South Korean chips and displays. And battery control measures. CEOs of Samsung Group subsidiaries are said to have attended the conference, including CEOs of Samsung Display, Samsung Electric, and Samsung SDI.
Sources said that as the trade dispute between South Korea and Japan escalated, technology companies in mainland China and Taiwan Taiwan sensed opportunities to seek to expand their global market share in the fields of semiconductors, displays and batteries. With potential challenges facing South Korean rival Samsung Display, Chinese display maker BOE is seeking to supply OLED panels to Apple. Chinese high-purity hydrofluoric acid manufacturer is also in technical communication with Samsung and SK Hynix …
At the same time, Samsung and Hynix have required component suppliers to use domestic equipment and materials and no longer import Japanese equipment and materials. "In the past, our customers (Samsung and Hynix) often rejected our proposals to use local parts because of concerns about performance and production stability," said a Korean chip company executive. "But this Second, they have asked us to replace as many Japanese parts as possible. "
In early July of this year, Japan and South Korea renewed their conflicts over the compensation of forced labor during World War II, and Japan strengthened its export control over South Korea. Photoresist, hydrogen fluoride, and fluoropolyimide are listed on the control list. As South Korea relies heavily on the import of these three materials, this move will greatly affect the normal production of the Korean semiconductor industry.
According to industry analysis, the restrictions on South Korea ’s export control include fluoropolyimide, resist, and high-purity hydrogen fluoride used in the smart phone and chip industries, of which high-purity hydrofluoric acid is also electronic-grade hydrofluoric acid. .
Fluorinated polyimide and photoresist are used in the production of OLED panels. Among them, photoresist is an essential material for the exposure process in the display panel production process; fluorinated polyimide is the raw material for transparent CPI films; It is mainly used in semiconductor lithography and etching processes. Korean companies including Samsung, SK Hynix, and LG in Korea need these materials to produce OLED screens, DRAM memory, and NAND flash memory.
According to relevant data, Japanese electronic-grade hydrofluoric acid accounts for about 70% of global production. The main manufacturers are Stella Chemifa, Daikin, Morita-kagaku, etc. The global electronic-grade hydrofluoric acid production technology is mainly in the hands of Japanese companies, and The proportion of electronic grade hydrofluoric acid required by Korean semiconductors imported from Japan is not less than 50%. Semiconductors are an important pillar industry in South Korea. Electronic grade hydrofluoric acid is used as the main raw material for semiconductor cleaning. This time Japan restricts exports to South Korea. On the one hand, Korean companies need to reconsider the establishment of a supplier system. On the other hand, their domestic consumption will increase. The export volume to China and other countries will inevitably be affected.
These three major materials, Japan has basically monopolized the main global production capacity. Japan accounts for 90% of the global total production of fluoropolyimide and photoresist, and 70% of global semiconductor companies need to import hydrogen fluoride from Japan. South Korea's dependence on Japan is as high as 90%. Most of the fluoropolyimide and high-purity hydrogen fluoride required by South Korean Samsung Electronics, LG and SK are imported from Japan.
Some analysts pointed out that Japan's trade sanctions may seriously affect South Korea and even the global semiconductor supply chain production capacity, causing products such as memory, flash memory, and OLED screens to face price risk.